Earlier this year I had the opportunity to attend an
incredible tasting at the Scavino estate in Castiglione Falletto. Readers who
have visited the winery within the last few years will have no doubt have seen
the massive renovations that have been under way for some time. The work was
finally completed earlier this year and to celebrate the opening of the new
cellar Enrico Scavino hosted a vertical tasting featuring three of his four
single-vineyard Barolos; Carobric, Bric del Fiasc and the Riserva Rocche
dell’Annunziata.

"I have waited all my life to do a tasting like
this," said an emotional Enrico Scavino as he greeted the assembled guests
on this picture-perfect spring day. Also present was the entire Scavino family,
including wife Anna Maria and daughters Enrica and Elisa. To make the occasion
even more special many of the wines were served from rare large-format bottles.
When producers of Enrico Scavino’s generation were young and starting out
Barolo was far from the prestigious, highly sought wine it is today. Scavino
and his peers struggled just to sell through their wines and money was always
tight. Few, if any, of the younger generation of producers could have ever
imagined how valuable their own Barolos would become. It is therefore quite
unusual in Piedmont for estates to have extensive libraries of older releases,
so the opportunity to taste so many wines of unparalleled provenance was quite
a treat.

In order to give readers some context on the wines, a few
vintage observations as they relate specifically Scavino’s wines are in order.
The 1989s and 1990s are simply brilliant. These are the vintages where quality
exploded. During this time the wines were aged in Slavonian oak casks.
Beginning in 1993 the wines underwent a stylistic change as Scavino began using
rotary fermenters as well as 100% barriques to age his Barolos. Though somewhat
overlooked in the aftermath of the great 1996-2001 vintages that would follow,
Scavino's 1993s are showing very well today. I have had much better luck
recently with his 1993s than with the 1995s, which remain rather compact and
angular.

As might be expected from a great, legendary vintage, the
1996s are superb. The wines are just now starting to show tertiary nuances that
suggest they are beginning to enter the early part of their maturities. The
1997s, on the other hand, are big, super-ripe, fruit-driven wines that are drinking
well now and should continue to age gracefully although they don’t look to be
as long-lived as other recent vintages. I find the over-ripe quality of the
fruit and the lack of aromatic complexity relative to other vintages makes the
wines less complete. Scavino’s 1998s are simply gorgeous, and combine elements
of both 1996 and 1997 vintages, showing plenty of fruit, but in a less extreme
style and with better balance than the 1997s. Vintage 1999 is somewhat uneven.
It was a vintage of transition (see Issue 7 of Piedmont Report for more
details) as around this time Scavino decided to abandon using small barrels
exclusively and began aging his Barolos for one year in barrique followed by
one year in cask.

At an age where some of his colleagues are slowing down,
Enrico Scavino continues to push the quality envelope and it shows in the 2000s
and 2001s. Over the last year I have been fortunate to taste virtually every
single-vineyard Barolo Scavino has produced from 1985 to 2001 and in my opinion
vintages 2000 and 2001 are clearly the best wines he has ever made. While
Scavino’s wines often drink well relatively young, they have also proven time
and again they are capable of improving with extended cellaring. I can only
conclude by saying there has never been a better time to buy and cellar the
wines of Enrico Scavino.